“Ohohoho…” Dragan grinned, cracking his neck again. “Look at your face.”

He looked up at the giant girl, his cheeks creased in amusement at the sheer despair he saw there. Tears the size of cars dripped down from Pan’s eyes, trickled through the labyrinth of trauma, and poured into the abyss below. She knew she'd lost.

D-Dead boy…

“Dead boy? Oh, you needn't worry about that,” Dragan giggled, striding upwards -- using the frozen body of the Kaiser to elevate himself. “I'm very much not dead. I've been saved, Pan! Hip hip hooray! I feel like a million stator right now. Hahahaha… oh, this is great… mmm… oh, this is delicious…”

He checked his new nails, that mad grin still on his face, his eyes flicking independently in every direction. This wasn't the behavior of someone who had acquired a new ability. It was the behavior of a parasite who had acquired a new host.

A test drive was in order.

Paradise scowled as she stared across a border formed by Crestpoole’s smoke, the ever-distant light of a star seeming to make the smog shine.

“Forest, what are you doing?” she snapped. “You've infiltrated his mind, right? Finish him. Snap him in two. He'll go brain-dead in the real world.”

Dragan cocked his head -- at an angle that surely would have broken his neck in real life -- to look at the ex-Contender. His tongue flicked across his lips like a flexile pinecone.

“Oh, about that,” he cooed. “About that, about that, about that… we've been thinking. This Dragan Hadrien's not too shabby, right? He's obviously got some resources. He's got his health and his youth -- hell, looks too, this guy’s a real cutie-pie. Even if he were hideous, he's well on his way to becoming Supreme, isn't he?”

Paradise's brow knitted itself together in utter fury. “Don't you dare…”

If anything, Dragan's grin just widened at that anger. “It just makes us wonder… what do we need an old hag like you for, again?”

“I'll --”

“You'll what?” Dragan sneered. “Stab me with a sword? Shoot me with a gun? I'm your sword and your gun. Are you stupid?”

Paradise's face turned so red it almost looked like she'd combust right then and there. “You --”

“Yeah,” Dragan grinned. “Me. That's all I need now, mistress -- me and this little flesh puppet. You can go rot. Heheh, I bet that mushroom girl would be more than happy to make that happen.”

Dead boy! Fight back! Don't let it win!

Paradise took a step backwards along the glass world, looking up at Pan. The face that had been so red a moment ago had so quickly turned a deathly white.

“You kill me, and the Forest gets away,” she said quickly. “You want your owner back, right? I'm the only one who can make that happen!”

Pan frowned.

Owner?

“Friend, master, whatever!” Paradise cried. “The point is you need me! Kill me and you're fucked! Don't you dare!”

“Not very composed of you there, Miss Charon,” Dragan giggled, twirling a strand of silver hair around his finger. “What's wrong?”

“Shut up!” Paradise screamed, whirling around to face her ability. “Fuck you! Shut the fuck up! You fucking traitor!”

“Tell us how you really feel.”

“Truce!” Paradise turned to look up at Pan again, crossing her arms to form a frantic ‘X’. “You and me, truce! We'll get the Forest off of Hadrien together, then we can fight properly! You don't want to let this thing ruin our battle, right?! Hadrien wouldn't want that either!”

Pan slowly chewed her lip, mulling over Paradise's suggestion.

But… you are enemy…

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend!” Paradise shouted, thumping her hand against her chest.

Hah?

“Right now, the biggest danger to all of us is the Forest! So we drop everything else until it's dealt with! That makes sense, right? You understand?”

I guess… that does making sense… but you won't betray me, right?

“Of course not,” Paradise lied. “We'd be on the same side.”

Slowly, Pan nodded -- and slowly, she reached a massive hand down. It seemed at first she was going for a handshake to seal the deal, but as she fully registered the size difference she transitioned the movement into the world's biggest high-five. Her palm stood before Paradise Charon like a solid wall.

You promise, okay? No betraysies.

“I promise,” Paradise said, stepping forward to slap her hand against Pan’s. Even as she said that, though, the slightest insincere smirk lingered at the edges of her lips. Pan didn't see that, but it didn't matter…

…for at that very moment, Dragan Hadrien burst out of Pan’s hand and seized hold of Paradise's face.

“Eh?” said Paradise Charon.

“Eh?” said the Forest of Sin.

“Got you,” Dragan said calmly, his upper torso protruding horizontally from the stigmata on Pan’s hand. His eyes were dull with grim purpose, and his grip on Paradise's head was absolute. He'd made his presence here an impossibility -- and by doing so, had slipped right through Paradise Charon's guard.

The Forest of Sin, still standing on the horizon, blinked rapidly in disbelief. “But you… I got you…”

Dragan glanced over at it. “You two really are alike, huh? That's always the way with conscious abilities. I showed you an easy victory and you leapt right for it -- you're way too eager to congratulate yourself on how brilliant you are, rather than questioning the opportunity before you.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“But how?!” the Forest roared.

“...and then you lose your temper when it bites you in the ass,” Dragan smirked. “If you're that curious, I'll tell you. That shape you're parading around so happily? That isn't me.”

The Forest’s crimson eyes narrowed as it hissed: “What do you mean it isn't --”

“He means what he said, dumbo,” the interruption came through the same mouth.

As Dragan slithered out from Pan’s orange-blooded wound, he continued to speak. “Did you forget I'm a Cogitant or something? That's my Archivist. He and I switched places when I was freaking out back there -- and you were so pleased to get one over on me that you didn't even notice. Are you stupid?”

The Forest's eyes bulged in fury, even as the stolen mouth spread out into the Archivist's mocking grin. “You…!” it snarled, taking a thunderous step forward.

“Woah, now,” Dragan said, raising his free hand. “I'm not even done yet. Pan here is an existence that far supersedes your own. Do you really think you can harm me right now, when I'm intersecting with her consciousness?”

The Forest of Sin hesitated. It seemed not.

“So long as I'm here…” Dragan explained. “...you can't harm me. That's check.”

His blue eyes, like twin blue stars, snapped down to look at Paradise Charon.

“And as for you,” he said. “Either your delusions are just that strong, or that Niain guy pulled something when he gave his little pep-talk… but it seems you’re pretty difficult to kill. I’ve been trying to crush your skull this whole time, after all.”

Paradise lunged at him with her right hand, but Dragan pulled his other hand fully out of Pan’s gore and seized it out of the air. Paradise’s left arm, the connection still weak, slid off her body and thudded onto the floor. As Paradise pushed against Dragan’s strength, snarling like a rabid animal, their faces drew close to each other.

Her, the ferocious -- and he, the impassive.

“Don’t worry, though,” he continued, his voice just the slightest bit strained from the struggle. “I’ve figured out a way around that. In fact…” he glanced back over towards the Forest. “...you gave me the idea.”

“What?!”

“That poison your user was bragging about outside,” Dragan smirked. “The pain it inflicts increases exponentially, right? Until it’s unbearable. I remember the sensation well. That’s right…”

The Forest’s borrowed eyes opened wide.

“...I remember it,” Dragan’s smirk spread into a wide grin. “And this is a world of will and memory.”

“W-Wait…”

Dragan’s words continued unimpeded. “That isn’t me you’ve possessed… but it’s still a part of me. So…”

“I -- we said wait, damnit!”

“I’ve already sunk my fangs into you.”

“WAI --”

Pain.

The memory of unbearable, exponential pain -- and that memory itself increased exponentially, unbearably. Like fire lit aflame. Like acid melted by acid. It defied description.

But it did not defy perception. That would be far too merciful.

This is ridiculous. This can’t be happening. We haven’t even done anything wrong. This is a pain. Get lost. I hate you. It hurts. I… we won’t allow this. It’s ridiculous. The very notion is absurd! Me… us, experiencing such agony?! Calling this agony in the first place?! Ha! This is nothing! This is laughable! If you knew the kind of pain I… we had withstood, you wouldn’t even dare conceive of this as being pain! It really is laughable! I’m laughing! I’m laughing right now! Hahahahaha! This is nothing, it’s just making me -- making us -- making me laugh, you can tell it doesn’t work, so get rid of it already! Make it stop! I’ll do anything. Whatever you want. Riches? Glory? Power? I can make it happen. I can. I can do anything. From the day I was born, I have been an absolute and complete existence. Perfection wrapped in meat. Everything I have ever wanted just fell into my hands. It’s only natural. This world is designed to ease my way through it. Raindrops fucking move to avoid hitting my head. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. Anyone who tells you otherwise is dead dead fucking dead dead. Do you know who I am?! A Contender! I’ve killed a Contender! Slew him in a duel like he was a pig, cut him down with my sword! Do you think you can get away with doing this to me?! No, no no no, no! I don’t like this! Mother! Father! Fucking do something! What the hell is wrong with you?! Where are you?! What do you think you even exist for?! It’s not fair! Not fair, not fair, not fair! He cheated! Do you think you can treat people like this?! It hurts! It’s not fair! Quit bullying me! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you! Your friends! Your family! Everyone you know! Everyone you’ve ever fucking met! Don’t you hear me?! If you hear me, then do something! Please! I’m begging you! No, no no no… I didn’t mean it! Make it stop! Please! I’ll do anything! What do I have to do?! I’m sorry! Is that enough? Just forgive me already! I haven’t even done anything wrong! Just tell me, okay, tell me how to make it stop! I hate this! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it --

In the end, the Forest of Sin realized the solution all by itself.

-- stop it stop it stop it stop it stop it --

It could not stop the torture by attacking Dragan Hadrien. The Panacea network would prevent it, and the pain would only continue to increase. So, the only person it could eliminate -- the only target it could kill to stop this torture…

STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT

…was Paradise Charon herself.

She realized it at the same time, the pupil of her bulging eye swinging to face the Forest’s direction. Her mouth opened into a scream of fury. She pulled her remaining arm out of Dragan’s grip, ready to defend herself --

-- but too late.

The desperate branch lashed out like a sky-slaying sword, sending Paradise Charon’s head flying from her shoulders.

“...and that’s checkmate,” said Dragan Hadrien.

I see. So that’s how you ended up working out.

The locusts were eating everything around Paradise Charon. The cabin in which she’d spent her childhood, the friends she’d played with, the flowers they’d woven in her hair. She’d always loved those flowers -- and now they just rotted away, dripping down her skin. The sky did much the same.

It was only at the end that Y chose to play his final, cruelest trick. She’d been happy here, hadn’t she? In this place she had destroyed.

Paradise Charon screamed.

Indeed. Stories like yours need to be flayed from the shape of this world. You’d have been so much more content under the light of a dark star.

Oh, well…

Paradise Charon screamed.

I’d say you were a disappointment, Miss Charon…

Paradise Charon screamed…

…but this is all I expected from you to begin with.

…and the world of her mind vanished like a burning photograph.

Although the battle had raged inside the mindscape for what felt like an eternity, in reality barely a second had passed. From the perspective of the onlookers, this is what happened:

A spear of Panacea emerged from Dragan Hadrien’s mouth.

The spear pierced Paradise Charon’s throat.

Paradise Charon’s head exploded.

Dragan Hadrien twisted his own body, breaking free of the countless branches and falling down onto the ground. He didn’t take a second to rest. Recording the gored parts of his body into his Aether, he transitioned into a roll… for he understood this was not over yet. His gaze was still fixed on the falling corpse of his enemy.

Or, at least, what should have been a corpse.

Aether awakening.

Perhaps it was Paradise Charon who had undergone the awakening. Perhaps it was the Forest of Sin. Perhaps there’d never been that much distinction between them at all.

Whatever the case, the corpse was moving. Twitching branches protruded from its back, pushing against the floor to keep the corpse puppet upright. Anyone watching could tell this was a brief-lived phenomenon. This creature would exist for seconds, maybe minutes at best, its only purpose to kill its hated enemy.

“Hay-dree-an!” the thing screamed, a warped and obscene voice bubbling out of the stump of its neck, pouncing towards him like a tiger.

His reply was simple.

“Gemini World.”

He vanished into fizzling blue Aether -- and there, right behind him, waited the thing that had finally escaped from its prison. When Paradise Charon had died, the cage she’d created had vanished too. All that remained of her own Aether were the angry fading embers, and so there was nothing left to restrain it.

The Tower had been adapting all this time. Making war against simulations of the enemy in its own consciousness. Refining its killing methods, over and over, until it could finally put them to use in reality.

The device it had created was like a massive tuning fork, brutal and stark in its geometry. It pointed its creation at the Aether awakening… and unleashed an attack that was now beyond comprehension.

All that was left of the Gardener of Sin blew away in the wind… like so many leaves.